Funny thing is, none of these people are playing Lolla. But I’m in Chicago and going and it’s what’s on my mind. I told you there would be more Aylen to come, so there’s that, new and old. Also new BeatauCue and likely the only Skrillex track I will ever post. Proust!

Xristo – My First Kiss (Aylen Remix)

I can’t believe I’m posting a track by someone whose self-appointed moniker is :D Face. What a schmuck. This remix slays though and despite it being a — buzz word — Banger, I am into it. Aylen has some fucking dope sounds. It’s an old one (meaning two months old, which is like a lifetime, I know) but fuck it—

:D Face – Mad Man (Aylen Remix)

The Others – The Way You Make Me (BeatauCue Remix)

Skrillex feat. Sirah – Bangarang (MSystem Remix)

If you’re gonna be at Lolla, come say what’s up. Well, you’d have to know what I look like, but this could be the time for you to come to me with your praises, complaints, criticisms, presents— I’ll happily accept something from the fermented sugar department. Or you could just comment on here and we can set up some sort of meeting. I’ll be the one wearing the purple dahlia in my boutonnière.

1

Oct

When in the course of posting lots of disco house you start to wonder where it all comes from and who are the awesome people that release it. Well wonder no more because my recent interview with White Girl Lust has answers! I really had a lot of fun talking to these guys though. They’ve been friends nearly since birth and the story of how they came to start Solid Bump Records and where it’s going in the future is a must read. They were also kind enough to do an exclusive mix for Chemical Jump! So check it out below!

Clayton: Basically we met when our parents were playing in bands together circa 1981. As Eric has said in the past “our first collaborations were over Star Wars and Legos” Haha.

Eric: We were only about 2 years old.

CJ: When did you start making music together?

Eric: We were friends all through life, but we didn’t start to collaborate until after college. I had been doing Drum ‘n Bass professionally as a DJ and producer since the late 90s. I worked with someone else under the name D.Ecco & Sabotage. We had a few releases that got some big steam. Got to tour a bit. Got some full vinyl releases and all that. Clay was in real bands at that time.

Clayton: When eric says “real” he means bands with instruments.

Eric: Around 2004 I was getting bored with DNB. It was getting far too much like a heavy metal concert at clubs – shirtless dudes moshing and shit. Clay moved into our house that had a full studio in the Attic. He brought all his gear and that was when the idea of WGL started.

We had both been really into house and what not for years. All our friends were house DJs. We were hip to all that was going on. At the time classics like “One More Time” and “Black Legend” and all that was going on – I was playing huge parties with a lot of the people we look up to now. So we were really highly exposed to it all. Even years before that at warehouse parties with dudes like Garth and Sneak, two people that were heavy influences on us.

So I was sick of DNB at the time. A lot of house DJs were getting really minimal. The only things we really liked were old disco records, classic house, and what people like DFA had been doing the last few years.

Clayton: I will just say that the first White Girl Lust things were us playing with these sounds and trying to find our voice as a duo. It took some time and serious work but I feel very happy with where are presently.

CJ: Was West Coast Bump one of your first works together?

Eric: Yeah – we literally experimented a lot before that and there are LOADS of demos that will never be heard, but West Coast Bump was the start. And honestly it was an experiment too. We did this really strange homage to all the synth funk that people are calling boogie now, West Coast Bump. It wasn’t really intended to be like a “DJ EP”, so when we were thinking of releasing it – we knew it would not be easy to shop it.

CJ: So you were surprised when it got picked up?

Clayton: Haha awesome question.

Eric: Well, that was when we started Solid Bump. It was literally for this one off project.

Clayton: We have a lot of buddies who work and have worked for Beatport so we did West Coast Bump, like Eric said, as a one off exclusive more as an experiment than anything else!

Eric: To our surprise, it was fairly successful. So we did the remix EP – again just friends. But then we were like “okay – now what?”

Clayton: It took some gentle arm twisting, but I convinced Eric that running a label would be “easy”. A couple years later and we are in a constant state of self induced anxiety.

Eric: Another friend of ours Dre Day, did a fairly odd single “Chat Noir”. It was again, pretty far out, but it introduced the “disco” element part of the Solid Bump stew. We then met Laberge and that was what really sealed the direction of the label. That was when we did Pleasure & Pressure. And I really feel that is the first SBR release that really represents the vision of the label.

Clayton: Definitely, it’s the first for so many reasons. Both sonically and visually it defines the label for me.

CJ: You don’t see too many labels today that can firmly say their first release defines them.

Clayton: We have used it as a light house. Anytime we start to imagine other possibilities we use that release and Laberge’s single to guide us back to center.

Eric: That being said, we have really refined the vision of the label too. We’ve been really lucky to meet all the talented people on the roster and really hit it off with everyone. Its been a really great thing that continues to grow. And all our collective visions of what house music was and will be are pretty consistent. It makes me really excited about the future.

It’s almost like everyone has kind of been pulled together, and are really fueled by what the others are doing. There is a lot of cross influence going on, but everyone is kicking their own style.

CJ: Now that you guys have all these great artists on your label, what can we look forward to in the coming months?

Eric: Ghosts Of Venice has a the “Her” EP coming up next month in addition he has his release on Strictly Rhythm dropping soon. Strictly Rhythm’s 90′s back catalog is one of my most prized. So that is really inspiring.

Adulture just became label manager for the infamous Chicago label Dust Traxx. In turn he has been getting a lot of the associated artist involved with that.

White Girl Lust is getting back to focusing on music again. We had to slow down writing to grow the label. It’s like taking care of a baby, the first few years are so hands on we had to sacrifice some of our music time. We are writing a EP with Alona that is straight jacking’ vocal house. No samples. You can get a taste of that on our “Her” remix.

Mykill and Meroz have started to collaborate. They sent the first demo yesterday and it is AMAZING. I am going to try and put it on the mix for you.

CJ: Or just send the mp3.. that works too!

Eric: Ha, maybe a teaser. We also have Mix Chopin locked in on a few tracks.

CJ: That’s great! I remember back when he sent me an email asking to post one of his tracks and after I heard it I absolutely had to.

Eric: He told me you were one of the first people he got to pay attention when I was telling him about this interview. We are also going to do a 3rd installment of Pleasure & Pressure. We hope most the label will be involved in that one, especially Laberge.

CJ: Scandalous cover art and all?

Eric: They always have to be a bit on the fringe ;)

Basically we feel we have the most solid (no pun intended) group of friends – all of whom are doing top notch work. We intentionally are very careful on what we sign and release. We want to make sure that Solid Bump is really a collection of friends doing top notch music. Not just a turn and burn digital label.

Clayton: Exactly, we decided early on to focus on the quality of the music we were putting energy into and not the quantity.

CJ: Yeah, you wouldn’t believe some of the promo emails I get from labels. It’s like they have a new release each week.

Clayton: Right, or a rehashing of a single idea for 2 years. I remember that from band days.

Eric: That is why we are less prolific than a lot of labels. It is really hard to make something timeless in this digital age. We feel like the people we are working with are making music that really is that level of quality. We want each release – even if it doesn’t have vinyl accompanying it – to feel like it is worth paying attention to for longer than the self life of most turn and burn labels.

CJ: Something you’ll dig out of the mp3 playlist years later and still listen to.

Eric: Exactly. Something that the audience feels is worth remembering. You will not get that if you drop 35 releases a year.

Clayton: We honestly couldn’t do it any other way. Our hearts just wouldn’t be in it.

CJ: That’s great to hear! Is there anything else you wanna say?

Eric: Bring back that jack in 2011 – that is the SBR slogan of next year!

7

Jul

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Don Rimini consistently puts out some of my favorite mixes and his original tracks and remixes are some of the most intense tunes you’ll ever hear on a dance floor. I had the opportunity to ask the Godfather of electro some questions about production, the future, and his favorite producers right now. Here’s what he had to say.

Chemical Jump: So how did you get into the DJ/Producer scene?
Don Rimini: In the 90’s, my elder brother made me discover house, techno, new beat, acid house … I bought my first turntables at 14 and started to Deejay. And faster as I couldn’t think, it became a way of life. So I naturally started producing my own tracks – it is the obvious next step for a deejay. Man, I learned with a prehistoric Atari computer, an Akai’s 950 sampler, and SL1200 MK2 turntables. My first tracks been done in 2005 and by chance I still continue to have fun and improve my dj mixes. Ahaha

CJ: You’ve produced some ridiculously good tracks like Rave On and Ohow?, what’s your mindset when you first go into the studio to produce a track?
DR: Make a track I’ll enjoy DJ! A track that could burn a dancefloor! Definitely!
Even if, my previous EP (Kick n Run) was pretty spontaneous and direct; here, on Nlarge Your Parties, I wanted to keep that energy and that dynamic while adding something more melodious and harmonic. I took my time. Make it a bit more produced. I tried to combine musicality and efficiency. Some good dance music. Anyway, I tried … ;) It’s an evolution. Like some others producers, I was looking for a new sound, a new vibe. I tried to give something sexier, more elegant. Anyway, I’m really curious of the first public feedback.
A friend told me recently that if all the fidget guys had preferred to run that way, rather than pushing the buttons till overload, we would have more laughed nowadays – and who knows – we would see more girls smiling. That touched me a lot.

CJ: You have quite a few EPs under your belt since you started out, do you have any plans to put together an album at some point?
DR: No… I do not really see the purpose of making an album. I’m not sure that my music could be interesting on lps, on a classic format I mean. This question comes up quite often, but really, I see no purpose. Anyway I would love to release a kind of mix-album with some rarities, unreleased tracks, edits – all mixed like during a party. I make club music! Ahahahah! Anyway, I really figured my ep as a mini album. With an intro, outro, skits, …

CJ: What can we expect from The Don in 2010? Do you have any “secret weapons” waiting to be dropped?
DR: You can expect many fun, love, sweat, hysteria, frenzy…
I’m definitely ready to fight the dancefloor!!! More than ever! An endless tour for endless parties. Seriously, I really can’t wait for the crowd to pulse on my new tracks.
My secret weapons will certainly be my compilation « curated by Don Rimini… », on which I’m working on and hopefully will be released next November on Mental Groove. I’ll highlight 4 awesome youngblods. It is a tiny, but absolutely an amazing selection of huge tracks. Then some remixes, then a compilation of my own tracks for Japan, then touring and touring again. So stay tuned peeps.

CJ: Who’s your favorite producer right now? Are there any unknowns you think will make it big this year?
DR: My favorite producers stay the same since 4 years now… FakeBlood & Soulwax.
What else? :) They are simply Genius. They own the dancefloor science.
Man, I’m always digging new tracks, always listening to youg bloods. The unfinished quest!!!
My favourite newcomers? Easy… They will all be on « curated by Don Rimini… » ahahh
Seriously, believe me, it will be:

– Bmono (aka Keith), it’s been a long time I follow him and his friend Supabeatz.
I discovered him when he won the Franz Ferdinand’s remix contest. He’s got his own « magic touch ». Tracks & remixes are fucking well produced. I’m not the only one to focus on him. He recently remixed Crookers, Steed Lord, Crystal Castles, Two Door Cinema Club, Mumdance & Brodinski…

- Tag Team Terror, my favorite german artist at this moment. I love the way he produces. A kind of classic Chicago House spirit. The track that he gave me for the compilation is a massive hit-banger. Each time I played it, the crowd turned insane… :)

- Blatta & Inesha, the great bulldozer !! those 2 guys produce a powerfull and supa melodic sound. I remember, last year @ sonar festival, peoples were crazy on their Ramirez – El Ritmo Barbaro remix.

CJ: You’re stranded on a desert island and only have one album to listen to, what would it be?
DR: This question comes quite often, and it’s always so hard to select only one… Anyway I always choose another album. Ahahah. It depends of my mood at that time.
Today I’d say : James Brown – Ain’t It Funky Now
And tomorrow, I might choose Phoenix – Alphabetical, then Dr Dre – 2001…. Ahahah

21

Apr

I got to chat with Gina Turner for a bit after she did a show here in Albuquerque a while back. I really recommend you go see her if she comes to your town. She’s an amazing DJ and absolutely gorgeous, what more could you ask for?!

CJ: So what did you listen to when you were growing up?

GT: While I was growing up in the New York City club scene I had a fake ID, so I would go to clubs when I was like 14 and shouldn’t have been in clubs at all. I was really involved in the NYC house scene, specifically more.. I don’t wanna say the word Guido..haha, but you know the more big room house! I was really really into Rock though, like big time rock. New Order has kinda always been one of my favorite. I inherited a lot of vinyl from my mom and dad and that’s all disco ’cause my mom was a total Studio 54 girl. She was there as a regular you know… So I listen to a lot of rock.. and house!

CJ: Haha house of course.

GT: Oh and Hip-hop! and Free style, hello!

CJ: Pretty much everything then?

GT: Everything, everything! I don’t discriminate! And that’s the thing, when I DJ I don’t discriminate either.

CJ: Well then what’s the most embarrassing track you have on your iPod?

GT: Do you wanna look on my computer? haha I don’t get embarrassed though.

CJ: So you have no shame?

GT. I have no shame! I am a huge paramour fan, like huge.

CJ: But no Justin Bieber?

GT: I actually do have Justin Bieber only one song though, One Time. I think Justin Bieber is great, I used to watch him on YouTube and I was like “who is this kid?! Can I adopt him or marry him when he’s legal?!”. I guess my favorite band, and people give me so much shit for this, but I’m not embarrassed by it. My favorite band is incubus. I’ve seen them in concert like 7 times so I’m a big Incubus fan. People are like “OMG I can’t believe you’re an admitted Incubus fan!” and I’m like dude, I like them!

CJ: Haha I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of.

GT: Good!

CJ: So you’re one of the very few women DJs. There’s Annie Mac.. and there’s you. Those are really two of the biggest names. Have you seen any growth in the field of women as DJs since you started?

GT: Yeah, of course. Well, number one I don’t like to consider myself a girl DJ, but I am a female who DJs.. that kinda thing. I get grouped with annie mac a lot because we both have a radio background, we both are kinda like the taste maker kinda thing, but we’re also DJs.. So the female DJs that I’ve seen.. I love J Phlip, Reid Speed, Star Eyes, obviously Heidi… and I’m leaving out people, I’m sorry, but J Phlip and Reid Speed are like my idols.(Edit: Gina wanted me to add that her all time idol is DJ Heather!) So I see it expanding a little bit, but I also kinda try and make it not like a gimmicky thing. Do you know what I’m saying? Because a lot of girls do. A lot of girls are like “Oh, I’m gonna DJ in a bikini and just like dance around and not really mix”. I look at myself in pictures after I DJ and I look crazy. I’m so not trying to be hot or cute. I see these girls who try and be all sexy while they’re DJ and I’m like what are you doing?!. Okay, I’m sounding like a hater!

CJ: No no!

GT: This is my problem. I completely go off on tangents. I have to edit down my own radios shows all the time because I’ll be in like africa by the end of the interview.

CJ: It’ll probably take me an hour to transcribe this! Last year you collaborated with Laidback Luke, what do you have going on this year with him?

GT: We have a track called Jackit coming out. We’re also remixing Drop The Lime, we did a little remix swap so he’s remixing Jackit for us and we’re remixing his single Hot As Hell. We do have a lot more in store that you’ll just have to stay tuned for.

GT: And I love working with Luke. We have a really awesome vibe in the studio and just the stuff we’ve been working on were just like “Woah, how did we come up with this stuff! It’s great!”Because it’s not stuff that he would normal do. If you listen to Boriqua and Jackit, that doesn’t sound like Laidback Luke. So there’s my influences and there’s his and it’s like this crazy hybrid of I don’t even know what!

CJ: You’ve obviously played all over, you’re in New Mexico of all places. So what’s been your favorite place to play?

GT: I love playing in New Mexico, I’m not just saying that because i’m here. Because I get to see my family and my little cousins get to come to my shows. This most recent time all three of them got to see me so that’s really cool. Possibly my favorite place to play.. I loved playing in Norway. Norway was off the chaaain, but really Juárez Mexico. Whenever I say that people are like “Woah.. Okay..”, but Juárez Mexico.. It’s the murder capitol of the world, but yo, they know how to party and they like minimal techno so I get to go really deep. Like I don’t play any Rihanna remixes or anything haha.

CJ: As a radio personally you sort of have a leg up on trends, what do you see as being the trend in 2010?

GT: You know I asked this question to every single person I interviewed at WMC and I don’t even know the answer to this! Everyone keeps saying Dutch Dutch Dutch, but that fact of the matter is the Dutch sound has already been around forever. I’d say everything Latin. That’s what I’m feeling and I’ve always felt. I think there’s gonna be a lot of 2-step, 2-step and Garage is gonna come back. Because the BPM is getting faster and the wobbles are getting less. So like high BPM, but still not so hard. Does that make sense?

CJ: Yeah, it makes sense! Now I have one more thing!

GT: Is this like a surprise?

CJ: Yes, my friends and I planned this when we saw you the other night.

GT: Oh my God!

CJ: *I get down on one knee and pull out a candy Ring Pop* Will you marry me?

GT: Hahaha! Awww… Umm can I think about it?… Yes!

We’re officially engaged. Although she did eat the Ring Pop a few minutes later… which I think technically means it’s off, but I can still hope!

Thanks again to Gina for the interview and DJ Dizzan for setting the whole thing up.

5

Apr

(Photo by Mike Sanchez)

I had the chance to have a short little talk with AC Slater right after his incredible set a few nights ago (you can check out the video I took below the interview). He dropped a few unreleased tracks and a ton wobbly bass that made your whole body shake. He’ll be making his way to Texas in just a few days, so if you live in Houston or El Paso I highly suggest you go see him.

CJ: First off how was Miami last week? I heard it was absolutely insane.

AC Slater: Oh it was amazing. We threw a Trouble & Bass party at White Room on Saturday. It was Epic. I’ve never seen anything like that in Miami.

CJ: So who played the best set out of the whole Trouble & Bass crew?

AC: I don’t know man. Everybody was on point. We had so many friends like Nadastrom and L-Vis 1990 and the whole Trouble & Bass crew. Everybody just killed it, it was a fucking crazy vibe.

CJ: I know you’ve got this new track with Drop The Lime coming out called Creepin’, can you tell me a little about it?

AC Slater: Yeah we got a place in LA for a couple of weeks and started working on music and we wrote 4 tunes and that was one of them. We just wrote a little instrumental and I was like “Hey Luca, do some vocals on here!” so you know we laid some shit down. I did some vocals, some really creepy vocals as a fucking devil or something and a little speaking part. And yeah that’s that. We still gotta finish it up, but we’re gonna put that out on Trouble & Bass this summer.

CJ: I heard you play Clam Down The Trilogy tonight, any word on a release date for that?

AC Slater: I believe May. That’s the plan. The trilogy is done and I’ve done a remix and got DJ Craze to scratch up Clam Down. I played that tonight, it’s like the b-more thing. We’re just trying to figure out the best way to release it ’cause we wanna do cool vinyl packaging and shit like that. Definitely May or June it’ll be out digitally.

CJ: Your label, Party Like Us, brought some pretty huge releases last year, what can we expect this year?

AC Slater: For Party Like Us the next release is a project I’m doing with Juiceboxxx called 92 Eternal. It’s like old school rave kinda shit with remixes by Udachi and Luna-C, an old hardcore producer from the early 90′s, fuckin’ legend. We’re doing a release from Flinch from LA, it’s really sick and these guys from England called Cry Wolf that’s sick. So we’re shootin’ for the stars ya know.

CJ: Last question, you’re stranded on a desert island and only have one album to listen to, what would it be?

AC Slater: De La Soul Is Dead. My favorite album ever. It’s so fucking good I could listen to it forever.

CJ: Right on! Thanks a lot man.

AC Slater: Yeah, no problem!

Massive thanks to Leah, Bryan, and Dan for setting this up and of course AC Slater for the amazing set and interview.

Latest Mix: CJ Mini-Mix For Our House Records

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please contact me at Nate[at]chemicaljump.com and I'll gladly remove them.

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